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Captain Jerry Phillips, USPHS, New Chairperson National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention August 28,2000 Rockville, MD — Deborah M. Nadzam, Ph.D., F.A.A.N., announced that Captain Thomas G. (Jerry) Phillips, R.Ph., U.S. Public Health Service, has been elected to succeed her as Chairperson of the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (Council). John Santell, M.S., R.Ph., from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists was elected Vice Chairperson. According to Dr. Nadzam, "Jerry Phillips brings a broad knowledge base of medication error reduction programs to his leadership of the Council. He served the past year as the Council Vice Chair and has been a Council member representing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since 1995." Captain Phillips plans to pursue the following goals during his tenure: Development of additional recommendations (e.g., bar-coding, labeling and packaging) that will minimize the error potential of drug products. Enhancement of communication and coordination among member organizations. Facilitation of applicable goals outlined in the QuIC and the Institute of Medicine report to increase patient safety through error reduction. "This is truly a unique time in the history of healthcare in that most key stakeholders are focused on reducing errors and increasing patient safety," said Phillips. "The Council brings the strength of national organizations with years of experience developing effective tools and strategies for reducing errors. Some of these tools and strategies, which are available on the Council’s Internet site, include the development of national definitions, a classification system (taxonomy), and seven different sets of safety recommendations for minimizing medication errors," he continued. Jerry Phillips is Associate Director for Medication Error Prevention, Office of Post-Marketing Drug Risk Assessment at the FDA. He is a practicing pharmacist and a Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Public Health Service, holding the rank of Captain. His career has taken him from large urban hospital settings and ambulatory care settings to small isolated stations within the Indian Health Service. Captain Phillips joined the FDA in 1988 and served as Director of the Division of Labeling and Program Support in the Office of Generic Drugs until 1998. He was chair of the Medication Errors Committee in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research from 1992 to 1995 and is currently involved with FDA’s numerous efforts in reducing medication errors. John Santell, Council Vice Chairperson, is Director of ASHP’s Center on Pharmacy Practice Management. The Center serves as an information resource to ASHP members and others on implementation of pharmaceutical care. The Center also identifies and monitors overall trends in health-care delivery and makes recommendations to pharmacy managers. Mr. Santell has worked with the National Patient Safety Foundation on issues related to medication errors. He earned his B.S. in pharmacy from Dusquene University and his M.S. in Hospital Pharmacy from The Ohio State University. Mr. Santell has been with ASHP since 1992. For additional information about the Council, its activities or membership, contact Council chairperson Phillips at (301/827-3246) or Council secretary Diane Cousins (301/816-8215) © 1998–2008 National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention. All Rights Reserved. *Permission is hereby granted to reproduce information contained herein provided that such reproduction shall not modify the text and shall include the copyright notice appearing on the pages from which it was copied.